Systemic microvascular endothelial dysfunction and disease severity in COVID-19 patients: Evaluation by laser Doppler perfusion monitoring and cytokine/chemokine analysis

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Data
2021
Autores
Sabioni, Leticia
De Lorenzo, Andrea
Lamas, Cristiane C.
Muccillo, Fabiana B.
Castro-Faria-Neto, Hugo C
Estato, Vanessa
Tibirica, Eduardo
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Microvascular Research
Resumo
Background Microvascular dysfunction, serum cytokines and chemokines may play important roles in pathophysiology of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially in severe cases. Methods Patients with COVID-19 underwent non-invasive evaluation of systemic endothelium-dependent microvascular reactivity - using laser Doppler perfusion monitoring in the skin of the forearm - coupled to local thermal hyperemia. Maximal microvascular vasodilatation (44 °C thermal plateau phase) was used as endpoint. A multiplex biometric immunoassay was used to assess a panel of 48 serum cytokines and chemokines. Severe COVID-19 (S-COVID) was defined according to WHO criteria, while all other cases of COVID-19 were considered mild to moderate (M-COVID). A group of healthy individuals who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 served as a control group and was also evaluated with LDPM. Results Thirty-two patients with COVID-19 (25% S-COVID) and 14 controls were included. Basal microvascular flow was similar between M-COVID and controls (P = 0.69) but was higher in S-COVID than in controls (P = 0.005) and M-COVID patients (P = 0.01). The peak microvascular vasodilator response was markedly decreased in both patient groups (M-COVID, P = 0.001; S-COVID, P < 0.0001) compared to the healthy group. The percent increases in microvascular flow were markedly reduced in both patient groups (M-COVID, P < 0.0001; S-COVID, P < 0.0001) compared to controls. Patients with S-COVID had markedly higher concentrations of dissimilar proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, compared to patients with M-COVID. Conclusions In patients with COVID-19, especially with S-COVID, endothelium-dependent microvascular vasodilator responses are reduced, while serum cytokines and chemokines involved in the regulation of vascular function and inflammation are increased. pt
Description
Palavras-chave
Laser Doppler perfusion monitoring, COVID-19, Endothelial dysfunction, Proinflammatory cytokines
Citação
Sabioni L, Lorenzo AD, Lamas CC, Muccillo FB, Castro-FAria-Neto HC, Estato V, Tibiriça E. Systemic microvascular endothelial dysfunction and disease severity in COVID-19 patients: Evaluation by laser Doppler perfusion monitoring and cytokine/chemokine analysis. Microvascular Research. 2021;134:104119.